Media Roundup: After The Auditor, The Committee

The Conrad Black trial got the normal amount of overnight coverage, with the initial testimony of Richard Burt being the almost exclusive focus:

1. The report by Rudolph Bush of the Chicago Tribune starts off with Mr. Burt testifying that Conrad Black and David Radler were so closely knit, "they could seamlessly interrupt each other during board meetings while discussing complex business strategies and operations..." It also mentions that part of the cross-examination so far has had the aim of presenting Mr. Radler as a "lone operator who was cagey and unscrupulous -- a portrait that has been filled in through testimony that he was disdainful of employees and dismissive of auditors."

2. From NewsMax, a webbing of a Reuters report on Mr. Burt's initial testimony under direct examination.

3. A briefer Reuters report, by Andrew Stern, summarizes yesterday's testimony by Mr. Burt in a briefer version. It mentions that Mr. Burt served on the Hollinger International board from 1996 to 2005.

4. Paul Waldie's report, webbed by the Globe and Mail, mentions that Mr. Burt "explained that directors met about four times a year and didn't always get an agenda for meetings." He also mentions that the sale of 18 small newspapers to Black- and Radler-controlled American Publishing took place in 1999.

5. Jennifer Wells of the Toronto Star has written another article today, which contains more background on Mr. Burt than the others'. She notes that this is the first time in the trial that the "commingling of Black and Radler" has been put into the trial itself by the prosecution, and concludes that "Burt's testimony, which continues today, is a deep excavation of a fossilized corporate culture...."

6. The Edmonton Sun has webbed the latest CP report on the trial. It's the only one on the list that even mentions Marilyn Stitt.

7. The second part of Neil Sternberg's latest Chicago Sun-Times column recounts him paying a visit to the courtroom while trial was in session. What struck him, as he relates in the part entitled "Trust in the common man," was the middle-Americanness of the jury. His overall reaction, though, was one of excruciating boredom.

8. Also from the Sun-Times, Mary Wisniewski's report, which mentions that Mr. Burt's testimony will be followed by that of "economist Marie-Josee Kravis and former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson..."

9. A much briefer summarization of Mr. Burt's testimony has been webbed by the Edmonton Journal.

10. Also from Paul Waldie, an article which discloses that Mr. Black wants to reclaim control of Hollinger Inc. It also notes that another Chicago Tribune motion to have the jurors' names release was rejected by Judge St. Eve.

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In "Seeking Alpha," Mark McQueen, after relating that Steve Jobs was let off the hook by the SEC despite their finding out about backdating of Apple stock options for his executives, wonders out loud if "Conrad Black [had] been a Silicon Valley icon, and not an English Lord, would he be on trial today in Chicago?" He may have answered his own question in the Financial Times write-up he quotes, which says that "the SEC said it would not take any action against Apple itself. The regulator on Tuesday said its decision was due in part to the company’s 'swift, extensive and extraordinary cooperation' in the government’s investigation..." (Apple's general counsel, but no other Apple executive, got hit with fraud charges according to that quoted report.)

Also, Mark Steyn returns to making fun of the prosecution's objection process in his latest Maclean's blog entry. Those who discern a disguised compliment of Julie Ruder's taste in clothes should be aware that Mr. Steyn has already pegged her as an "earnest bluestocking."